Santa Rosa hot sauce entrepreneur celebrates the end of his reality TV journey

An exciting and sometimes bumpy reality show ride came to an end Wednesday night for a Santa Rosa hot sauce entrepreneur vying for a $250,000 prize during the two episode season finale of “Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars.”

Andrew Whiting, the founder of Hot Drops, and about 150 friends, family members and fans — some sporting black T-shirts emblazoned with “Team Andrew” on the back in bold white letters — packed into Old Caz Beer in Rohnert Park to watch as chef Gordon Ramsay and TV personality and hospitality industry veteran Lisa Vanderpump decided his fate.

Whiting was one of the top five contestants in the semifinal round of the 10 week reality series in which he went to London to compete against 25 other food and beverage entrepreneurs in challenges involving food trucks, demonstrating kitchen gadgets at a trade show, and creating and marketing a chocolate bar to the bigwigs at Mars Inc., to name a few.

As the 35-year-old Santa Rosa native and Montgomery High School graduate waited for the early East Coast showing of the final back-to-back episodes to begin, he handed out samples of tortilla chips doused with his fermented hot sauces to guests.

But he wasn’t giving out any spoilers.

“I want to tell people what happened, but I know it’s going to be a better experience for everybody if I keep everything under complete lock,“ he said.

Whiting has known how it turned out for months, but had to keep his lips sealed due to a nondisclosure agreement with the Fox Network.

Not even his parents, John and Laura Whiting, who were there to watch with everyone else, knew the results, and it turned out they’d have to wait longer than they thought as President Biden’s address to the nation delayed the program’s start by about 20 minutes.

For the semifinal challenge, Whiting and his fellow contestants were tasked with coming up with a new product then making, branding and marketing it on social media in just 36 hours.

Whiting created “Mocksy,” a nonalcoholic, energy drink and mocktail with prebiotics for gut health, a characteristic also in his fermented hot sauces.

“I’ve gotta stay in my lane,” Whiting said.

There were groans and boos from the crowd as Ramsay and Vanderpump evaluated Whiting’s final pitch and Vanderpump described him as “smug,” “good” and “dependable” but “I don’t feel the passion.”

When all the contestants came together for the final grilling, Whiting clinked glasses with a friend then turned back to the big screen on the brewery’s wall to watch as the duo told Whiting his message was diluted by trying to appeal to everyone.

“I think it’s good to appeal to everyone,” said family friend Jill Peterson, who babysat Whiting when he was a boy. She was one of many in the crowd who helped make the experience, win or lose, a gratifying one.

“It’s been an opportunity to reconnect with the community that grew up with us,” said Andrew’s mother, Laura Whiting, of the watch parties held throughout the season.

When it was revealed he would not be one of the three finalists, Whiting grabbed a mic, hopped on a bench, and immediately buoyed the spirits of his disappointed fans with humor and grace.

“You can imagine how hard it is to plan a party for my impending loss,” he said, then later motioned to everyone in the room. “This is what winning looks like. I’m not sad. I’m happy this all happened.“

The results, although not what he would have liked, came as a relief after months in which he said “ambiguity has been my best friend.”

But some ambiguity remains. Whiting hinted that we may not have seen the last of him on TV, but that’s all he can say for now due to that nondisclosure agreement.

While he didn’t come home with $250,000 — “yet” emphasized Whiting — his father, John, said money isn’t everything.

“I’m so proud of his composure and confidence. He did our family proud. He’s absolutely richer for the experience that he’s had.”

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Graue at 707-521-5262 or jennifer.graue@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JenInOz.